Various connectors, such as BNC connectors, facilitate attachment of electrical cables to electrical instruments. In a typical BNC connection, a female portion of the connector is mounted to an electrical instrument and a male portion of the connector is connected to a cable. The female portion includes a tubular cylindrical housing and a socket formed in a central location of the housing. The male portion includes a tubular cylindrical housing having a pin formed in a central location of the housing. The pin of the male portion may connect into the socket of female portion and the housing of the male portion may be inserted into the housing of the female portion.
The female portion also includes outwardly radially extending posts formed on the outer surface of the housing and the male portion includes a locking sleeve, disposed around the outer surface of the housing of the male portion. The locking sleeve includes grooves to mate with the posts on the female portion. To lock the connector portions together, the grooves in the locking sleeve receive the posts. The locking sleeve is then rotated relative to the female portion so that the posts are held within the grooves, thereby securing the connection.
When making one connection, the task of insertion and twist-locking the connectors together is relatively straight forward. However, when multiple connections must be made, this task becomes rather tedious. For example, the connector installer must ascertain the specific interconnection of each cable with each input/output connection of the electrical instrument. This may result in an increase in the time necessary for each of the connections, as well as an increase in the likelihood that some of the connections may be incorrect.
This problem is compounded when multiple connections must be made repeatedly to a number of electrical instruments such as, for example, when testing multiple electrical instruments upon completion of assembly of each during manufacture of the instruments.